The Muse (1999)

The Muse (1999)

October Films

August 27, 1999

Comedy, Fantasy

DVD
B

Very witty Albert Brooks vehicle about life in Hollywood, with some nice supporting material for Stone, McDowell, and Bridges, as well as fun cameos.  The "fantasy" tag (spoilers) may not be strictly accurate, but I choose to believe it is.

The Mirror Has Two Faces

The Mirror Has Two Faces

Sony

November 15, 1996

Romance

DVD
B-

Barbra directed this vanity production, but that doesn't make it bad.  I will say that even at the time she seemed a little old (at 54) for the role, but, as in the very different Yentl, she is believable playing a younger woman who goes through a transformation.  Yes, the movie is corny and at times implausible, but it still drew me in, even if I'm less romantic and more experienced than I was 25 years ago.

Jagged Edge

Jagged Edge

Columbia

October 4, 1985

Crime Drama

DVD
D+

After avoiding this movie for over 35 years, it's sort of a relief that the first quarter hour wasn't as bad as I expected, not that it was good.  (And Glenn Close just appears very briefly at that point, so I'm not tagging her.)  Richard Marquand directed, four years after Eye of the Needle.

Hell or High Water

Hell or High Water

Lionsgate

August 26, 2016

Crime Drama

DVD
C

I came closer to liking this than I expected, helped by the very Texan quirkiness of the characters.  David Mackenzie directed.

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski
Working Title Films
March 6, 1998
Comedy
DVD
C

I gave this Coen Brothers movie a half hour because I just honestly didn't know how I felt about it.  I'd heard about it for years but I think that's part of why I hesitated to watch it, that it wouldn't live up to the the cult status.  I can see why people like it, and certainly I had high hopes with this cast.  The opening narration by Sam Elliott was fun, but I just couldn't connect with this particular form of quirkiness.  Note that it's technically a historical comedy, being set around the time of the Gulf War I, but that was also the '90s, so I'm tagging it as just comedy.

Arlington Road

Arlington Road
Screen Gems
July 9, 1999
Drama
DVD
D-

This opens with the Bridges character rescuing a seriously and mysteriously injured boy and then there's some borderline racism (in Bridges's class on terrorism), and there's some stuff with friends and neighbors and I just didn't care.  I would've gone with a D but the sound recording on the dialogue was poor.  Or maybe that was a blessing, who knows? 

Mark Pellington directed.